The board is a membership organization that supports pastoral and youth ministry leaders in their efforts to encourage young people to share their gifts in Catholic faith communities and deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ.
The federation includes representatives from 94 percent of all U.S. Catholic dioceses, the National Catholic Committee on Girls Scouts, and 50 youth-serving organizations.
In addition to continuing her duties at the diocese, Provencher will represent the federation’s Region 1, which includes the states of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.
A Biddeford native, Provencher served as a senior regional sales representative for RCL Benziger Catholic Publishing prior to assuming her role in the diocese in 2015.
At RCL Benziger, she provided catechetical expertise to 16 Catholic dioceses, including the training of adult catechetical leaders and volunteer catechists for their ministry to children and their families.
Provencher’s experience working with young Maine Catholics dates back to 1992, when she was named the director of youth ministry for St. Louis Parish in Fort Kent. From 1994 to 1996, she worked as a pastoral associate for St. Mary Parish in Wells and served as the director for youth ministry for the Diocese of Burlington, Vermont, from 1996 to 2000.
From 2000 to 2003, she served as the director of ministry for youth at St. Mary Parish in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. In 2003, Provencher was appointed New England regional manager of blood donor recruitment for Hemacare Corporation/Coral Blood Services in Scarborough, where she managed and supervised separate staffs at three centers before joining RCL Benziger in 2006.
She also is a published author, having written Never Too Young to Lead; Leadership for Early Adolescents and Mysteries in My Hands: Young People, Life and the Rosary in addition to contributing on several other books.
Provencher holds a bachelor’s degree in religious studies, with a concentration in liturgical studies and elementary education, from St. Michael’s College in Vermont.
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